Baby girl, dad killed in early morning house fire

MESA -- A baby girl and her father are dead after a fire tore through their Mesa home early Monday morning.

Electrical fire killed child, dad

azfamily.com

Two families -- five adults and five children -- lived in the house near Southern Avenue and Alma School Road.

The fire broke out at about 3 a.m.

A 16-year-old neighbor said he tried to help, but the front door was locked and something was blocking the window. He said he could hear people inside screaming but there was nothing he could do.

"There was a lot of fire. It was a big fire," Manuel Ladesma said. "I just wanted to go in there and save somebody."

Police officers arrived on the scene before the firefighters and tried to get in to rescue those inside. They managed to get in through the back, but heavy smoke and fire blocked their way.

Fire crews went in through the front window and front door and were able to knock down the flames down relatively quickly.

Eight of the 10 people living in the house were able to get out.

The 1-year-old baby and her dad were trapped in a front room where the fire started. Investigators have determined that this was an electrical fire.

Two other family members, one of them a 10-year-old boy, were taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. A few other family members and four police officers also suffered minor smoke inhalation. They were all treated on the scene.

One person who lived in the house said there were smoke detectors but nobody heard them. It's not clear if those detectors were actually working.